GRtak
Forum Addict
I finally found something that happened as a direct result of the leaks, but I think it is for the better.
http://torrentfreak.com/spain-rejec...tm_campaign=Feed:+Torrentfreak+(Torrentfreak)
Sometimes I am ashamed of being American because of what my country does, and this is one of those times. I have no doubt that American polititions and companies have tried influencing foriegn laws. It is part of the game that diplomats play. But when people in my government try to acctually write the actual law. WTF were they thinking? What makes them think that they should be able to do this? So I am glad that this was part of the leaks and helped get it shot down.
And....
http://www.finextra.com/news/fullstory.aspx?newsitemid=22124
This makes me laugh my ass off. What do they think buying all of the domains is going to do? Do they really somehow think that this will stop people from finding the information? All they did was waste a bunch of money.
http://torrentfreak.com/spain-rejec...tm_campaign=Feed:+Torrentfreak+(Torrentfreak)
Spain Rejects Proposed Legislation to Shutdown P2P Sites
Written by Ernesto on December 22, 2010
The Spanish House of Representatives has rejected new legislation under which hundreds of file-sharing sites that are currently perfectly legal, could have been shut down. The rejection is a major victory for the tens of thousands of Internet users who launched many protests in recent months. Conversely, the news will come as a disappointment to proponents of the legislation, including the entertainment industries and the U.S. Government.
Traditionally, Spain has been one of the few countries where courts have affirmed that P2P-sites operate legally. In an attempt to change this, the Spanish Government recently proposed new legislation under which sites offering links to copyright works could be taken offline without a judicial order.
The legislation, an amendment which is part of the Sustainable Economy Law (LES), was drafted by Minister of Culture ?ngeles Gonz?lez-Sinde and assisted by the United States Government. However, in recent months the proposed legislation, also known as ?The Sinde Act?, has been widely protested by the public.
In a final attempt to get the amendment rejected, the country?s leading file-sharing sites went down voluntarily this week. Just hours later it became apparent that the public protests had not been in vain.
After a lengthy debate the House of Representatives decided to adopt the Sustainable Economy Law, but reject the controversial amendment. The law will now go to the Senate without the amendment that would allow for the shutdown of P2P sites.
This decision of the House of Representatives was celebrated as a clear victory for the public.
?The will of the people has put an end to the pressure imposed by lobbyists, embassies and foreign governments on our representatives.? the association of Internet users wrote in a response to the good news.
?And this victory has shown something else: that democracy and the rule of law are not guaranteed. They must be earned every day and minute by minute, because if people are not concerned to defend these things, nobody will do it for them,? the association added.
Representatives of the entertainment industries have voiced their disappointment in the press. The president of anti-piracy organization Promusicae regretted the decision of the Government and said that the creative industry has been left for dead, while file-sharing ?thieves? get protection.
For the Minister of Culture, the failure to get the amendment approved may have some serious consequences. Both the entertainment industries and people on the pro-filesharing side have already called for the resignation of ?ngeles Gonz?lez-Sinde.
Sometimes I am ashamed of being American because of what my country does, and this is one of those times. I have no doubt that American polititions and companies have tried influencing foriegn laws. It is part of the game that diplomats play. But when people in my government try to acctually write the actual law. WTF were they thinking? What makes them think that they should be able to do this? So I am glad that this was part of the leaks and helped get it shot down.
And....
http://www.finextra.com/news/fullstory.aspx?newsitemid=22124
The WikiLeaks strategy: Bank of America buys up abusive domain names
Bank of America has snapped up hundreds of abusive domain names for its senior executives and board members in what is being perceived as a defensive strategy against the future publication of damaging insider info from whistleblowing Website WikiLeaks. 67651 views 0 comments
According to Domain Name Wire, the US bank has been aggressively registering domain names including its board of Directors' and senior executives' names followed by "sucks" and "blows".
For example, the company registered a number of domains for CEO Brian Moynihan: BrianMoynihanBlows.com, BrianMoynihanSucks.com, BrianTMoynihanBlows.com, and BrianTMoynihanSucks.com.
The wire report counted hundreds of such domain name registrations on 17 December alone. They were acquired through an intermediary that frequently registers domain names on behalf of large companies, says the report.
Bank of America has reputedly established a 'war room' to draw up strategy and rebutt allegations likely to emerge from the publication of thousands of internal documents by WikiLeaks.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange this week told a reporter with The Times that he had enough data on a major US bank to force the resignation of its senior leadership. While Assange has yet to reveal the true identity of the bank in question, it is widely accepted that the 5 gigabit drive in WikiLeaks' possession relates to internal documents and e-mails from Bank of America.
Late last week, the bank got its retaliation in early by joining Visa, MasterCard and PayPal in cutting off WikiLeaks payments processing, leading the whistleblowing site to instruct account holders to "place your funds somewhere safer", in a veiled hint about the likely impact of its forthcoming disclosures.
This makes me laugh my ass off. What do they think buying all of the domains is going to do? Do they really somehow think that this will stop people from finding the information? All they did was waste a bunch of money.